Improvement in the means for propelling vessels



- 2 Sheets--Sheet 1. H. B. E. VON ELSNER.

Means for Propelling Vessels. No.l 50,9l5. Patented Mag 12,1874.

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2Sheets-- She=et2. H. B. E. VON ELSNER.

Means for Propelling Vessels. N0.]50,9I5, Patented May12,IB74.

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Ulvrrnn Starts TPA'rEN'r Qrrron HUGO B. E. VON ELSNER, OF ST. LOUIS,MISSOURI.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MEANS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 150,915, dated May 12,1874 application filed March 20, 1874.

Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, H. B. E. VON ELSNER, of the city and county of St.Louis, and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Propellin g Canal-Boats 5 and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side view of the stern of a boat with my improvedmechanism applied thereto, and in position for practical operation. Fig.2 shows the said mechanism elevated or hoisted on the boat. Fig. 3 showsdetail views of the propelling mechanism.

The invention is an improvement in the class of propellers forcanal-boats and other navigable vessels in which oars or paddles arereciprocated by suitable means. The improvement relates to thearrangement of slotted guides and adjustable collars or bearing-blockswith the paddle-levers, for the purposes, respectively, of maintainingthem in a vertical plane while vibrating, and adjusting the leverage ofthe paddles, and also the depth to which they shall work in the water,as hereinafter described.

The paddles c are formed of two parts or leaves, of like form and size,which are hinged to the rods or levers a a, so as to open laterally whenmoving backward, and close together when moving in the oppositedirection. They are prevented coming into actual contact in thus closingby a small curved plate-spring, Fig. 3. The levers a a are pivoted atthe middle of their length, or thereabout, in a horizontal bar or frame,13, and operated by a walking-beam, G, and suitable pitmen or connectingrods 1) b. The walkingbeam is pivoted to a post or standard, 2, andvibrated by a suitable connection with the crank-shaft of the engine orother motor. The rods 11 b are connected to the paddlelevers a a bymeans of collars D, which are made adjustable by means of clamp -screws.Thus the leverage and length of stroke of the paddles may be increasedor diminished by adjusting the collars D higher or lower on the leversa-that is to say, the leverage will be ingly; but the depth to which thepaddles enter or work in the water often requires to be varled, also, inorder to produce the best re suits, the essential or determiningconditions,

being the number of feet drawn by the boat or vessel and the place ofadjustment of the levers. I hence apply collarsc c to the pad= dleleversto support them in their bearings. By means of screws the collars may beadjusted higher or lower to lengthen or shorten the lower arm of thelever. The levers a are guided and steadied in their vertical movementby means of curved slotted plates E, which are applied to the beam B onboth the upper and under side. There may be one 01' more pairs of leversand paddles, those of each pair being connected at the top by across-bar, G, Fig. 3. When in practical operation, it is evident thepaddles of one pair will always move reversely to those of the pairbehind or in front of them, so that a continuous and equable propulsiveeffect is maintained.

The paddles and lovers are hoisted out of the water and partly on boardthe boat whenpassing looks, or on other occasions where there is dangerof injury or want of space for the boat. The. beam i therefore, hingedto the stern of the boat A, at :0, to adapt it to be turned up into aninclined position, the rods 0r pitmen b b being in that case detachedfrom the walking-beam and drawn back on the deck. The beam is held thuselevated by hook X and a rod connection with the hinged part H of apost, F, fixed vertically to the deck.

What I claim is- 1. The combination, with the pivoted vibratin gpaddle-levers a a, of the slotted guides E 1*], arranged as shown anddescribed.

2. The combination, with the paddle-levers, of the adjustable collars DD and c e, as and for the purpose specifier HUGO B. E. VON ELSNER.

Vituesses:

JAMES S. GRINNELL, HARRY COLEMAN.

